This article is a joint collaboration with Phoenix Air Unmanned

Phoenix Air Unmanned provides aerial drone services nationwide. LiDAR and Aerial Photography for powerline inspection services. Aerial Surveys & Mapping for Engineering Design. They have authorizations to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and offer multiple payload mounting capabilities.

In hindsight of the BNEF – The New Energy Outlook: Grids report, it is apparent that large investments across the grid infrastructure are needed to continue on the net-zero trajectory. According to the report, the power grid will double in size by 2050.

We are arriving at the fifth industrial revolution (impressively, the power grid’s implementation spans back to the second!), and it is defined by data. When being described, this is the time of technological advancements, automation, increased operational efficiency and technical assistance. And it is just in time, as these are required for us to be able to build out, maintain and connect a doubled-sized power grid in less than 30 years. So even if we call it a revolution, this is a gradual change – and lets be honest, we did see it coming.

• BVLOS flying inspected over

120 miles

in a single day

The new age of powerline inspections.

When working with utilities on their infrastructure inspections, we are constantly being reminded of the immense challenges that modernization, digitalization and huge expansion poses for utilities. And we are not claiming that we can solve all of these challenges on our own, but virtual inspections can support the energy transition and is aligned with the expectations of the new revolution when it is done right.

In a recent study with Xcel Energy, virtual inspections found 60% more defects than foot patrol, a staggering result that underlines the value of complementing traditional inspection methods with new technologies and methodologies. For the virtual inspection in this study, the footage was captured primarily using state-of-the-art Phoenix Air Unmanned (PAU) drones (some by helicopter), deployed with advanced camera technology from Phase One to provide high-resolution imagery for Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted defect detection. The virtual inspection was conducted by EDM International utilizing eSmart Systems Grid Vision^® solution.

Drones, or UAV’s (unmanned aerial vehicle, but for ease– let’s just call them drones) are the latest addition to the air space. These smaller, unmanned air crafts carry huge potential, especially when it comes to infrastructure inspections.

• With their size, drones can easily fly closer to the assets without putting a human in harms way.
• Drones are also way more sustainable than helicopters, both in carbon footprint and cost of flying.
• The imagery captured by these types of drones are ideal to use in AI-assisted virtual inspections, as they can fly closer and capture high resolution imagery.
• The accuracy of the AI will also improve significantly when the images are of high quality, and therefore save time and money for the utility.

Today’s regulatory landscape.

Another critical difference that sets drones apart from their bigger, carbon-hungry cousins is the ability to fly beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS for short. Flying BVLOS often requires applying for a waiver from the governmental entity of aviation with clear scope and operational descriptions.

The operator must present a clear safety case on how they will deconflict with both traffic in the skies and people on the ground. These safety mitigations may include:

• limiting the operating environment,
• use of electronic surveillance equipment to monitor the airspace,
• or keeping the drone close to the infrastructure that is being inspected.

All safety mitigations are outlined in a concept of operations (ConOps) – which is provided to the aviation authority along with operations manuals and safety management systems detailing the quality of the operator.

Tying this back to the fourth industrial revolution, proponents of using drones list the increased pressure on governments to change their current approach to fit the new possibilities that technology brings. The BVLOS flying of drones to capture infrastructure data is a perfect example of a shifting paradigm.

Utilities provide the ideal proving ground for advancing BVLOS drone operations under aviation regulations. The transmission line environment is defined as

“to include use of proximity to infrastructure as a mitigation to deconflict with manned aircraft traffic”

and routine inspections fall under public interest. As drone inspections scale to larger equipment, federal regulators require the operator to convey how the specific flight operation is in the interest of the public. With the ongoing electrification, and the ever-growing need for an uninterrupted delivery of power, the interest and acceptance has increased.

Following years of lessons learned and 13,000 inspection miles later, Phoenix Air Unmanned (PAU) recently secured a nationwide waiver for BVLOS drone inspection flights. The transmission line inspection waiver unlocks BVLOS operations for all utilities recognized by the US Department of Energy, providing huge value to increase the cost-efficiency of infrastructure inspections.

46% reduction

in the cost of drone data acquisition

It all started with five miles.

In 2015, Xcel Energy sanctioned a five-mile proof of concept transmission line inspection using drones. Limited by site access, weather, and shortened flight distances, they kept the unmanned aircraft within visual line of sight, the field crew took two and a half days to inspect five miles. Traditional foot patrol methods would have completed the inspection in a single day, underlining that something needed to change to increase the efficiency.

Today, under the BVLOS inspection authorization, the same five-mile stretch piloted by Xcel Energy in 2015 can be inspected in one single flight. For PAU, the distance per flight has grown to ten miles with field crews averaging 45 miles of inspections per day. In July 2020, a flight team inspected over 120 miles in western Minnesota in a single day. The area provided ideal conditions for launch and recovery access, aircraft command and control link, and met all the criteria presented in the safety case to fly extended flight lengths.

Changing the regulatory landscape.

As BVLOS operations have scaled, the cost per mile for acquisition has plummeted. Initial authorizations from regulators required visual observers in a “daisy-chain” configuration to keep watch of the skies when the unmanned aircraft was out of view of the pilot. Additional personnel along the route of flight provided little economic value for drone inspections. Today, the PAU BVLOS waiver authorizes the use of a single “Electronic Observer” monitoring airspace for the pilot. Removal of visual observers and the extension of flight lengths by no longer accounting for visual observer viewing locations has led to a 46% reduction in the cost of drone data acquisition.

In 2016, 14 CFR Part 107 was introduced by the Federal Aviation Administration for commercial operations of unmanned aircraft. The rule limited operators to less than 55 pounds total gross weight. The future of drone inspections is pairing BVLOS inspections flights with aircraft that exceed the 55-pound weight limit. An increase in weight will mean an increase in capability to include flying farther with multiple inspection sensors, driving the efficiency and financial gains even further than before and provides utilities the ability to gather high-resolution RGB imagery as well as LiDAR and infrared at the same time.

Some companies – including PAU – are operating larger aircraft outside of the bounds of Part 107. In 2023, the SwissDrones SDO 50 was put into service for powerline inspections. The aircraft flies for two hours at a maximum takeoff weight of 192 pounds – carrying a suite of sensors such as high-resolution inspection cameras, LiDAR, and infrared and near-infrared cameras. Regulators recognize the need for larger aircraft operating in the National Airspace System and are working towards a new set of rules to accommodate these systems. While larger aircraft can be operated under exemptions today, rules are still years away from going into effect, but every journey starts with one step (or five miles of transmission line).  

Scalable BVLOS powerline inspections via drone are available now. The foundation is being set by industry leaders who bring aviation experience when seeking approval from regulatory authorities. Operational history and use cases provided by the utility industry – paired with the transmission line operating environment – are under review by regulators. BVLOS rule making will eventually go into effect and the utility industry will be the first to benefit on a wide scale – long before commercial package delivery by drone is common (but we are looking forward to that too!).

Concluding thoughts.

The increased efficiency and financial gains from being able to acquire multiple data sources from one single flight provides a huge step towards grid digitalization and modernization. For virtual inspections to make the high returns that utilities are expecting, they need to consider the holistic inspection process and beyond, not all technologies and methodologies will deliver the same results.  eSmart Systems understands the importance of creating great partnerships for our customers, to ensure our AI-assisted software can help utilities detect and identify the smallest defects on their assets, safely behind their desks and that the data captured can be utilized beyond the inspection. We believe in end-to-end solutions for infrastructure inspections, and we are happy to partner with Phoenix Air Unmanned to lead the way for utilities in the new era of inspections.

Contact us today and see how Grid Vision is transforming the way the world’s leading energy providers inspect and maintain critical infrastructure.

Our approach to AI-assisted virtual inspections is different. We have an asset centric approach to all of our solutions and build your image-based digital asset while you inspect as we know that data can support grid owners in their operations.

What is an image-based digital asset?
This is a digital representation of your physical grid linking your asset to your asset data, inspection data, images, meta data and grid topology. 

Why would you need this data?
You may not have easy access to this image-based data today in your core IT systems. This data gives you another dimension of insight into your physical grid, the mechanical state of your grid through structured and tagged photos linked to inspection data, grid topology, meta data and a clear audit trail. 

We hear from utilities that images taken of their grid by field crew is often not tagged, unstructured, not linked to an asset and difficult to access. If there are images, they are on a USB stick somewhere, on someone’s mobile phone or in a database that takes ages to load.

What value can an image-based digital asset give you?
From working with 50+ utilities globally we have seen our customers utilize the image-based digital asset in Grid Vision^® in various ways and have summarized the top 10 common use cases below:  

1. Improved capital planning
Our customers have now based their investment plans on accurate asset data and risk. Supporting them to prioritize their capital planning. 

2. Decreased unplanned outage time
Utilizing Grid Vision as part of the outage management process to check the impacted assets and then plan the correct tools and expertise before going on site has seen our customers decrease CAIDI by 28% (43 mins). 

3. Identifying common vulnerabilities
Our customers have saved hours from eliminating field visits by identifying assets at risk within Grid Vision at a desk within hours instead of days.

4. Supporting emergency maintenance 
Providing Grid Vision to emergency response teams to check for structure types before sending out the crew to the field has saved our customers time and shortened time to restore grid faults.

5. Wildfire mitigation 
Multiple customers are using Grid Vision to identify assets at risk from wildfire within hours by searching for components at risk at a desk and providing the visual data to field crews to go and fix.  

6. Supporting regulatory reporting and major incidents 
Our customers are using Grid Vision to confirm the state of an asset before an incident for root cause analysis and regulatory reporting.   

7. Improving situational awareness and business decision 
Our customers are using Grid Vision in virtual meetings with leaders to demonstrate challenges with projects.  

8. Maintenance & planning
Grid Vision is used by maintenance teams to identify inventory, materials, skills, right of way before going on site.  

9. Siting land rights 
For new builds, our customers are checking Grid Vision to confirm any siting land rights for new projects. One of our customers identified an undocumented family cemetery on a potential new substation site.  

10. Maintenance strategy  
Grid Vision is used to support maintenance strategies, one of our customers identified assets failing before end of design life through Grid Vision. This insight helped them to re-prioritize their maintenance strategy to avoid unplanned asset failures.  

By leveraging Grid Vision’s image-based digital asset, our customers are unlocking multiple core use cases and saving their teams time, improving safety, reducing costs across multiple departments and improving grid resiliency. 

We do more than provide virtual inspections, we start with the asset itself and link the data that is needed to support your asset management processes. 

Thinking of making the transition? Contact us today to start your journey.

Recently, there has been an increased adoption of digital tools to carry out overhead line inspections like the use of drones and cameras to collect imagery or visual data and manually analyze them, but a more efficient and effective method of conducting those inspections is by completely digitalizing the process and using AI technology to analyze and sort out the data. Utilities are looking at software to check the health and performance of transmission and distribution assets as part of a suite of digital tools in order to create agility and safety on that side of their operations.

In an October webinar we did with Xcel Energy, Brian Long, Xcel Energy’s Project Director for Transmission Asset Management, clarified “The main reason we do this is to improve our inventory and really understand the condition of our assets.” With fast and robust data being sent to the utility through virtual inspections, utilities can have a clearer picture of the health and efficiency of their T&D network without sending work crews which saves time, gas and labor money, and reduces worker exposure to job hazards from lines and substations. AI-based inspection solutions can also find more defects than traditional methods, and can be used with modeling tools to help predict issues with assets on a timeline which can increase both efficiency and safety.

• BVLOS flying inspected over

120 miles

in a single day

The new age of powerline inspections.

When working with utilities on their infrastructure inspections, we are constantly being reminded of the immense challenges that modernization, digitalization and huge expansion poses for utilities. And we are not claiming that we can solve all of these challenges on our own, but virtual inspections can support the energy transition and is aligned with the expectations of the new revolution when it is done right.

Virtual line inspections provide a wealth of data in conjunction with various sensors and other devices that can be utilized in the decision-making process for all sorts of applications beyond just asset health. The timing of investment decisions can hinge on which systems most need addressing, and having a complete picture of one’s systems through a synthesized data repository can inform and accelerate that process. More granular data can be used to target specific parts or aspects that need addressing rather than more costly replacements of an entire unit or system. Data can also be used to create efficiencies for field crews both in management’s ability to effectively allocate their efforts, and for the crews themselves if they have easy access to the data in the field. The whole of the utility apparatus can be more deft with these data and analytics tools.

The key to unlocking the business value of virtual inspections is a smart plan executed by skilled staff

On our podcast about AI misconceptions, eSmart System’s CTO Erik Asberg said:

46% reduction

in the cost of drone data acquisition

It all started with five miles.

In 2015, Xcel Energy sanctioned a five-mile proof of concept transmission line inspection using drones. Limited by site access, weather, and shortened flight distances, they kept the unmanned aircraft within visual line of sight, the field crew took two and a half days to inspect five miles. Traditional foot patrol methods would have completed the inspection in a single day, underlining that something needed to change to increase the efficiency.

To get the best use out of the data and the analytics, a robust plan with buy-in from the entire organization is necessary to reach the most efficient applications of the data for the highest return of investment in terms of time, money, and safety. It is also prudent to ensure that staff is properly trained to utilize these tools, or partnerships are formed with skilled professionals familiar with these processes. Collaboration and partnership in general can help fill knowledge gaps for an organization looking to onboard more advanced systems. The tools at our disposal are capable of synthesizing a lot, but they are only tools, we cannot forget the human element.

Concluding thoughts.

Throughout this year, we’ve seen many advancements in utility infrastructure and systems as they modernize for resilience and increasing customer expectations. Making the most out of data in transmission and distribution is both part of the modernization process and an accelerant of it. By creating efficiencies in this space utilities can open up resources for further investment and planning. Collecting data can allow for proactive decision-making on upgrading which makes the grid more resilient. With a clearer understanding of assets, workers can be better allocated and hazards can be identified faster. A utility with a good plan, knowledgeable partner, and trained staff that are kept up throughout the process can use virtual inspections alongside a suite of tools to improve not just their T&D, but the whole enterprise.

Contact us today and see how Grid Vision is transforming the way the world’s leading energy providers inspect and maintain critical infrastructure.

eSmart Systems and envelio are excited to announce their partnership to support utilities with their asset management and grid planning decisions.

eSmart Systems’ Grid Vision^® solution powered by AI enables utilities to scale virtual inspections and grid inventory while digitalizing transmission and distribution assets with an image-based digital asset, combining inspection data, substation assets, metadata and grid topology to provide actionable insights and downstream value beyond the inspection.

 

envelio’s Intelligent Grid Platform empowers utilities by delivering a digital twin of the distribution grids. The platform unites relevant grid data from multiple sources into one platform to digitalize and automate grid planning and grid operation processes. Applications like Grid Planning and Grid Study enable the evaluation of future scenarios and their effect on the power grids. The results can then be used for strategic grid planning.

Bringing the two solutions together unlocks a powerful combination of an accurate image-based digital asset with the digital twin, resulting in a knowledge-based platform to support utilities to break down silos between grid operations, investment planning and condition monitoring to provide holistic and accurate information on the conditional and physical state of the grid. Based on these additional insights on the power flow and mechanical asset data combined, utilities can enable improved maintenance and inspection planning, support unplanned outage response and improve long term asset investments and strategic grid planning for their power grids.

In this whitepaper, learn what to consider and how you can realize the benefits of the new generation of infrastructure inspections and increase the resiliency of your power grid.